Immigration inquiries at N.C. jails removes criminal illegal aliens

More than 2,000 people arrested for violating state laws in the past year were flagged for deportation once they went to jail.

Jailers started checking inmates’ immigration status after a state law took effect last year requiring them to check identities of foreign-born people charged with felonies or driving while impaired.

In addition to the 2,099 destined to be deported last year, another 2,733 illegal immigrant inmates were identified through a partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, according to the N.C. Sheriffs’ Association.

From October 2007 to the end of 2008, 7,000 people in the Atlanta region faced removal proceedings because they were found to be here illegally through local jail and prison checks, according to ICE. The Atlanta region is made up of North and South Carolina and Georgia.

Overall, the number of identity queries run by jails nearly tripled between 2007 and 2008 to 16,996.

State jails ran nearly 17,000 queries, but immigration officials only interviewed a total of 6,884 of those inmates, the sheriffs’ association reported.

The inmate immigration checks became a requirement after a law sponsored by state Sen. Julia Boseman, D-New Hanover took effect last year. She had sponsored the legislation in response to voters’ demands for a crackdown on unlawful immigration after the federal government failed to reform the law.

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